The hillsides and valleys were thickly populated with
wild animals, such as wolves, wild cats, panthers, deer, and very
frequently a large bear would be seen. Turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants,
squirrels, rabbits and other wild game of the smaller species were here in
seemingly inexhaustible numbers. Mr. Payne Dixon, who came to Kentucky and
located near Henderson in 1805, in a most interesting conversation with
the writer, indirectly mentioned the fact of having seen, a short time
after his arrival, a set of elk horns remarkable for their size and
length. These horns, when placed with their tip ends down, would admit a
man five feet in height walking between the prongs and underneath the
skull, without touching it or bending his body. Among the winged birds,
found at that time in great numbers, were those which are at this time
total strangers to his country. They were the paroquet, a species of
parrot, but of much handsomer plumage, the raven, a bird made famous by
Edgar A. Poe, and many others, noted for the peculiarities of their
plumage. As the county gradually developed and became populated the birds
migrated to wilder lands.
In those days game was very plentiful, a large buck of
fine flesh could be purchased for the small sum of fifty cents, while
turkeys were given away. No apprehension was felt concerning a knawing
stomach, for the abundance of wild game insured a week's supply at any
time in a half hour's walk from the door of the cabin home. As long as
there was powder in the house and lead in the pouch, the pioneer little
worried or thought of hunger ever staring him in the face, but kept his
shanty stocked with meats which now command fabulous prices.
History of Henderson County, Kentucky
by Edmund L. Starling
p. 28
published in 1887
public domain material
